– Chapter Fourteen –

The Black Lake

"Neville!" Romi screamed, as he splashed into the water. Romi scurried to the edge of the rock on her hands and knees and looked over the edge. The water was rippled from the splash, and sloshing against the bank.

Romi crouched there, her breathing heavy, waiting with her heart pounding against her rib cage. She watched the ripples slow down and dissipate. Neville didn't reappear. Suddenly a new feeling erupted in her chest, panic.

"Neville!" she called again, but nothing happened. The water became still. "Neville!"

She looked behind her, there wasn't anyone around, and the castle was too far away. She looked over the rock again, took a deep breath, and dove off the cliff into the water below.

The water was sharp and cold as it hit her. She nearly gasped but managed to fight the urge to breathe until she reached the surface again. Taking a deep breath, she ducked under and looked all around.

The water was dark and murky, swirls of green, black and grey were all around her. She couldn't see Neville, and so going up for one more breath began to swim down.

Romi's heart was racing but, and she was trying to keep her breath as long as possible before having to go up again.

It was eerie and silent under there, and as she began to swim into the blackness of the water. The sound of a whale seemed to reach her ears, and she turned quickly in the water, her robes billowing around her.

There was nothing in the water; she couldn't see anything – no fish, no frogs, no plants and certainly no Neville.

What could she do next; her panicky feeling was taking over. What if she never found Neville? She would have to go and explain to everyone, everyone, that it was all her fault.

Suddenly there was a rushing of water beside her, as though a current had appeared, and shot her uncontrollably forward, spinning her around. She nearly took a gasp of water when something else caught her eye.

There was a glowing off to her left. It wasn't emanating light, but seemed to be glowing all the same. It wasn't large, and things were passing in front of it, so it was almost twinkling light down there. Romi paused, wondering what on earth it could have been, and she thought it might have been long and thin, but couldn't get a good look at it because she felt that her lungs might explode in the turbulent water around her.

Suddenly something grabbed her around the waste, and she let go of all her air in one bubble. Whatever grabbed her, pulled hard and she zoomed through the water and suddenly burst out of the hair and was flung to the ground on the side of the lake.

Romi sat there coughing, trying to clear the water from her lungs, and wiped her hair out of her face to see. It was then that she heard coughing and gasping beside her.

She looked and Neville was on all fours, coughing water, looking very wet and exhausted.

"Neville!" Romi choked and threw her hands around him.

"Hi," he said, giving her a pat on the shoulder.

"You all right?" Romi asked.

"Yeah," he said, "yeah, I'll be fine."

"What happened?" demanded Romi. "You fell off and didn't come back up?"

Neville shook his head, he was starting to shiver uncontrollably, and he looked back up to her. "I dunno," he stuttered, "I fell under, and it was like something invisible pulled me down. I fought it, trying to get back to the surface, when something else grabbed me and flung me up here."

Romi nodded and looked back to the lake.

"I felt something like a current, but then I got grabbed and flung out too," she said, watching the water ripple.

"You fell in too?" Neville asked.

"No, I went in after you," answered Romi looking to her friend. She wasn't sure if he was about to cry or not, cause his face was too wet to begin with.

She didn't have time to comfort him before there was loud gurgling sound coming from the lake. Romi and Neville scurried to their feet. It sounded almost as though someone had emptied a bathroom and all the water was rushing away.

Then, something broke the surface and a large greying dome appeared out of the water. It looked similar to the one that had come before, but older, and greyer. This time, it came out farther and Romi saw her guess from before was right.

A very old, sick looking Giant Squid blinked its great eye at them. He gave a puffing motion that looked like a sigh, and then brought a tentacle up and placed in on the rock.

Romi hurried up to him, before he disappeared again, landing on all fours on the rock. He drew his tentacle away and left a white stick. Romi's hand went to her pocket and found that her wand was missing.

She picked it up and looked out to the Squid.

"Thank you," she said, "you saved us didn't you?"

There was a single bubble that popped up from the water.

Romi reached out a hand and placed it on the slippery dome.

Glowing, bright white

Exhaustion,

Death, birth

White light

Time, ticking forwards

Time, ticking backwards

Romi jumped away from the Giant Squid, landing on her back, winded and scared. Pictures and emotions had just flooded through her that weren't her own.

"Romi, are you all right," Neville said hustling to her side. He crouched beside her, but looked at the Giant Squid as she was staring at him.

"I just…" Romi stuttered. She didn't know what she just saw, or read, or whatever.

The Giant Squid made another couple of bubbles, and brought up one of its tentacles. It held it out, and gestured that it had something to give them. Neville, looking petrified, held out his hand.

The Giant Squid dropped something covered in slime into Neville's hand and then dropped slowly back into the water.

Neville shuddered from the slime, and then gently tried to wipe it off on the grass.

"What is it?" Romi asked. Neville didn't answer until he had all of the slime off and stared at the object for a while.

"It's… a compass," said Neville finally.

"A compass?"

"Yeah, but looks like it's from the eighteen hundreds or something," Neville said, passing it over to Romi. She took it and looked at it, turning it over and over in her hands.

"I dunno about you, but I am seriously confused," Romi said.

"Oh, I was lost the first time we met the Giant Squid," Neville answered, his teeth chattering.

Romi shivered, hugging herself.

"I think we should go back to the castle," she said, "and warm up."

Neville nodded in response.

"Okay, so here's what we know," Neville said quietly. They were in the study hall, two weeks after their adventure at the lake. The end of January meant that the teachers were all starting to press for revision for exams, and they were all required to spend at least an hour every day in the study hall, supervised by a teacher. Most of the students here were going over their notes from the school year, preparing study sheets and whispering about classes to their mates.

Romi and Neville however were not having anything thing to do with schoolwork. They had, for the last two weeks, been researching in the library and comparing notes in the study hall about what was happening at the lake.

"So, to start off with," Neville continued. "We have a weird symptom affecting the plants and animals around the lake. Looking grey, and magically changing from infant to adult. This is happening at the lake, and I'm guessing it was the same thing that happened at the forest at Malfoy's house."

"Okay," Romi said, staring at her notes. "We have also had two encounters with the Giant Squid in the lake, both times he has looked like he's affected by the symptom."

"The cause is suspected to have something to do with time," Neville said. "As you have overheard Professor Snape saying the time was draw out of the birds. We got a compass from the eighteen hundreds from the Giant Squid, and Madam Pomfrey also confirmed that they were dead of natural causes, suggesting their time was accelerated."

"But magically, as the strange side effect," Romi added.

"Yes, and we know that there is a woman involved, who we've seen once-"

"I might have seen her before too," Romi interrupted.

"Maybe twice," Neville said, "but we have no idea if she's even related to this problem."

"And lastly there is something on the bottom of the lake, that is long and thin, looks like it glows," Romi finished.

They were quiet for a moment, staring at everything.

"What does that tell you?" Neville asked after a moment.

"That nothing we looked up in the library is useful in any way," Romi answered, "what does it tell you?"

Neville bit his lip for a moment, and then said, very shyly, "That whatever is on the bottom of the lake is probably killing it."

Romi watched him, thinking. "So…" she said slowly, "what we do next is…"

"Find out what's on the bottom of the lake?" Neville asked wearily.

"Yup," Romi answered. "Time to look for ways to breath underwater."

Neville gave an audible sigh, and rubbed his eyes and forehead.

"Can't we just study for exams for once?" he asked.

"Do you really want to?" Romi questioned.

Neville paused, staring at the sheets of paper in front of him.

"No," he answered.

The beginning of February saw Romi leaving class for two days. Severus came to pick her up, and though her classmates were very confused, the teachers gave her condolences.

It was a quick trip, quicker than Romi would have expected to Canada. It was still very cold and windy there, and they were standing in the front yard of her grandparents' house.

"Are you ready?" Severus asked. Romi stared at it for a moment. Even the house itself looked empty and sad, though she was told that there were a lot of witches and wizards there.

The small amount of snow whipped around the frozen ground, and the wind whistled through the cracks in the barn. Romi could hear the cows lowing in there.

"Romi," Severus said, crouching beside. "Do you want to wait for a bit?"

Romi shook her head.

"Okay," he said and stood again. He took her hand and started to walk towards the house.

It was silent and eerie outside, but inside the house it was full of people and noise. Romi's grandfather apparently had known a lot of people, and they had all come to offer comfort to her grandmother.

Almost all of the witches and wizards in the house Romi didn't recognize at all, and she was a little taken aback to see the house full of people she didn't know.

A plump older looking witch came up, to them.

"May I take your coats?" she said, holding out of a hand. Severus handed her his coat, helped Romi off with hers and passed it over. "I presume you knew Zanthias Adams?"

"Yes," Severus said slowly, glancing to Romi. She was staring at her feet.

"Romi!" said a very familiar, warm and comforting voice. Romi looked up immediately, to see her mother walking towards her. She left Severus' side in a hurry and buried herself in her mother's embrace.

"Oh, so this is your daughter, Charis?" said the witch who had taken their coats.

"Yes, thank you, Myra," Charis answered. There was the sound of someone walking off and then it was just Romi being held by her mother.

"Thank you, Severus," Charis said, "for coming, and for bringing Romi."

"It was my pleasure," Severus said.

"Severus!" said a deeper voice and Romi released her mother, only so that she could go and hug her father. He swept her up into a great big hug while her mother greeted Severus with a hug and kiss.

"How's my little girl?" Hector said snuggling his face against her, making her smile.

"All right," Romi answered. Hector put her down and held out a hand for Severus to shake.

"Thanks again, Sev," he said.

"No problem," Severus answered.

"Did you enjoy your Christmas?" Hector asked looking to Romi with a smile, "I trust you still managed to enjoy yourself – I hope you thanked the Longbottoms."

Romi nodded, "yes I did – to both questions."

"Very good," Hector answered. "You must be hungry, come into the kitchen."

Hector led the two into the kitchen, where Romi's grandmother was. She was checking on the food, it was still full, but she was putting a bit of everything on the table.

"Grandma," Romi said, letting her father's hand go and hugging her around the waste.

"Hello, my dear," Grandma said, wrapping her arms around Romi. "Have a pleasant trip?"

Romi nodded looking up to her. She looked older, and thin.

"Mum, sit down," Charis said. "The food's fine."

"I just have to keep busy dear," said Grandma with a crackly voice. But then she sat down heavily. "It's Zephyr all over again," she murmured.

"I know, Mum," Charis answered, sitting beside her and putting her arms around her mother. "I know."

Romi looked between her mum, grandmother, father and Severus.

"Who's Zephyr?" she asked quietly. Her father motioned for her to follow him out of earshot of her mother.

"Who's Zephyr?" Romi asked again when they were farther away.

"Zephyr was your mum's brother," Hector said softly.

"I didn't know mum had a brother," answered Romi looking surprised.

"He was six years older than her – he died when she was your age," Hector answered. "Grandma never really got over it. Your grandfather was what meant the most to her after Charis married me and moved out."

Romi looked into the kitchen, her grandmother was dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief.

"What's going to happen?" Romi asked.

Hector smiled, "I don't know, Romi," he said, "but I know that we'll be there for her if she wants us."

Romi's grandfather had been cremated just before Christmas, but it was now that he was buried. Grandma had picked a spot out on the property and everyone gathered outside on chairs. Romi sat near the front with her mother on one side and Severus on the other. A lot of people went up to say things about her grandfather, all telling stories of how wonderful he was, and all the funny things he used to say.

Grandma couldn't say anything at all, nor could Romi's mother. Hector talked for nearly fifteen minutes about his father in law, and had almost everyone laughing.

"Did you want to say something?" Severus whispered in Romi's ear. She watched her father, and felt her throat squeeze and she shook her head violently. "Okay," he said putting a hand on her shoulder.

Finally they were finished, and Grandma walked up, supported by Charis. Together they picked up the urn that had Romi's grandfather's ashes in and placed it in the hole in the ground.

A warm wind blew through the trees, making all the wind chimes sing. Everyone in the audience had a chance to go up and place a handful of dirt in the hole, no magic used, and they all drifted away after that.

Romi sat in her chair she was still there long after her mother and father had gone to play host at the house, and Severus had gone up for his turn. Though he returned to her.

He didn't say anything, just sat beside and took her hand. When it was just Severus, Romi and her grandmother left, Romi stood up.

Severus walked with her to the gravesite, and held onto her hand while she dropped the dirt with the other. She didn't cry, not this time. She'd shed her tears for her grandfather, but she missed him so much right then that it hurt.

It was another fifteen minutes before she made her way up to the house with Severus and her grandmother.

Most of the people there left right after the burial. Aunt Narcissa and Uncle Lucius had come as well, and stayed only a bit longer than everyone else. A handful of them, who Romi supposed were Grandma's best friends, stayed for dinner, and left only at the end of the night.

Romi and Severus stayed the night at the old, empty house that night, Severus tucking Romi to bed while Charis, Hector and her grandmother talked about what they were going to do about the house and other important things.

Romi slept in the next day, and spent the afternoon with her parents and grandmother. It was only after dinner that Severus said they should be getting back. Hector and Charis promised their daughter that they would see her very soon, and wished her luck for the rest of the term.

Romi smiled, hugged and thanked them, and then let Severus whisk her away back to Hogwarts. She went to bed early that night and couldn't help crying a little bit.

Time flew past them for the next couple of weeks, their Easter break was much less pleasant than their Christmas one; most of them stayed at school, slugging away at homework. Romi and Neville had spent fruitless hours in the library, looking for anything that might help them figure out what was wrong with the black lake or breathe underwater.

By the end of April, they had come up with nothing, and they hadn't had time to go down to the lake and search for clue.

Exams were creeping up on them, and Romi spent many sleepless nights, worrying that she hadn't studying enough for them.

It was a warm night when Romi went to bed hours after everyone else. She had been feeling a little sick lately, just a sore throat and fatigue, but it had given her strange dreams lately. Just as she was falling asleep, she remembered what had happened when she touched the Giant Squid, and with that on her mind, she started to dream.

She was floating along in the sky, just watching the stars shoot quickly past her, and listening to the sound of raindrops on trees. It was a very peaceful place. It was only after a moment did Romi realise she was lying on the ground, staring up at the trees, and the sky beyond.

She felt the ground rumble softly with the sound of hooves, and so she looked up.

There was a herd of centaurs in the clearing where she lay. Romi wasn't particularly interested in why they were there, and so she lay back down staring at the stars again.

Rain fell on her cheeks, and she wondered about the Giant Squid, and what he might have been doing on a wet night like this.

But oddly, she couldn't keep thinking about the Giant Squid, she thought more and more of the long glowing object, at the bottom of the lake. She thought so hard about it, that suddenly she saw it.

She was floating in the water, staring straight down at a long, sharp looking instrument that was mostly transparent.

"There it is," said Neville's voice beside her. She turned in the water to see him. He was there, floating beside her, looking extremely determined. She felt like she had seen him like that before, except this time was slightly different. He was wearing what looked like a fishbowl on his head.

"Romi, are you okay?" he asked looking worried. Romi just stared at him.

"Wasn't I just…" she trailed off, looking around.

"Centaurs!" Neville said suddenly, "go talk to the centaurs."

"But-"

"Romi, wake up!" someone said shaking her awake. It was dawn and Hermione was pulling her shoulder. "Are you okay? Sounded like you were having a nightmare."

"Sure," Romi answered, and she sat up, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. "I'm fine. Just a strange dream."

It wasn't until lunchtime did Romi managed to tell Neville the fullness of her dream. He seemed very sceptical that they should follow the advice of a dream, especially cause it wanted them to go into the forbidden forest. At the end of dinner, however, Romi had convinced him to join her in the forest as soon as they had a rainy day.